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Mitcham yet to strike gold

PRIVATE SYDNEY by Andrew Hornery

ON THE same day the world learned that the US swimming star
Michael Phelps had jeopardised his multimillion-dollar
sponsorship earnings after being photographed
sucking on a bong, Australia's Matthew Mitcham,
pictured, revealed he was yet to land a big sponsor - six months
after winning Beijing gold.

And while Ian Thorpe was last week forced to deny
constant rumours about his sexuality and the claims that
sponsorship dollars have kept him in the closet, Mitcham has been
completely open about being gay and will lead this year's Mardi
Gras, yet remains sponsorless. Even his fellow Beijing star
Stephanie Rice has managed to shovel millions into her bank
account despite headlines covering everything from her ill-fated
romances to her hedonistic lifestyle. The influential US gay
magazine The Advocate has Mitcham on its cover next month,
with the tagline reading: "What's a guy to do when he's got the
gold, the fame, and the man, but no big-time endorsements?"

Yesterday it was Kerri-Anne Kennerley who led the charge
for Mitcham during an interview on her morning show. "It is tough,"
Mitcham told her. "A lot of people are having a lot of trouble,
myself included . . . like I haven't signed anything yet but we are
working on things and there are some things in the works and there
are some things that are close."

K. A. K. responded: "I am a little shocked that you have not
been snapped up as quickly as I believe you should have been
because we should celebrate who and what you are - No. 1, the best,
perfect."

STAY IN TOUCH, by Emily Dunn and Garry Maddox

HURT HEADS FOR THE CANEFIELDS

AFTER roles in the latest Indiana Jones and
Hellboy movies last year, John Hurt is headed to
Australia for a much more intimate film.

Now in his late 60s but still a hugely popular character actor,
the star of Elephant Man, Midnight Express and
1984 will play a man with Alzheimer's in Lou, a drama
written and directed by Belinda Chayko.

While Hurt's last Australian film, The Proposition, took
him to outback Queensland, this one will be shot in Murwillumbah on
the North Coast.

Chayko, who lives in that picturesque town, told Stay in Touch
yesterday that filming would take place from May around a
weatherboard house that backs onto a cane field.

The movie centres on the relationship between an 11-year-old
girl named Lou, who is yet to be cast, and her grandfather, played
by Hurt. Emily Barclay, who won an AFI Award for Suburban
Mayhem, will play the girl's mother.

"It's a story about the healing power of love," Chayko said.
"It's a drama with a gentle comic tone."

Chayko, whose last film was the edgy drama City Loop, had
lunch with Hurt in Los Angeles after he responded well to the
script last year.

"It's a challenging role," she said. "Those kinds of
performances are difficult but offer them a huge amount of work to
do."

SPANDEX SNUGGLES

Dressing up in blue Spandex to play a superhero was not exactly
what Melanie Vallejo had in mind when she decided to become
an actress. But she did gain something from her role as the Blue
Mystic Ranger in the children's television series Power Rangers
- Mystic Force: romance.

While shooting the American series in New Zealand three years
ago, Vallejo, 29, fell for fellow Australian Firass Dirani,
25, who played her screen love interest, the Red Mystic Ranger.

"It was a Disney production, so we didn't even get to hold hands
for the cameras, though I was pushing for it," Vallejo said.
"People say men look good in suits, but let me tell you, depending
on the man, Spandex can be pretty damn attractive."

When the series screened, the couple had to contend with
hard-core fans who were obsessed with their relationship, onscreen
and off.

"When we're together, kids will come up and ask where our suits
are," Vallejo said. "But the scary fans are the ones in their 30s
who still watch the show and know more about the plot than we
do."

For both, Power Rangers was a career launcher. After
starring in last year's horror film Dying Breed, playing a
nightmare girlfriend in an iced-coffee commercial and now featuring
in Packed to the Rafters from tonight, Vallejo is also
rehearsing for the play Baghdad Wedding, which opens at
Belvoir St Theatre next week.

Dirani plays a Lebanese-Australian student dabbling with petty
crime in the film The Combination, directed by
actor-turned-film-maker David Field, which opens this
month.

AC/DC, CHUGG WIN

Just one week before the Grammy Awards, where they are up for
best Rock Performance by a duo or group, AC/DC have received
the touring equivalent of the prestigious music award, winning Tour
of the Year at the Pollstar Awards in Los Angeles at the
weekend.

The leading touring trade publication, Pollstar, presents
the awards as part of the annual Concert Industry Consortium
conference. The veteran rock band are midway through an 18-month
world tour (home soil dates have not been announced).

Also, Australian veteran music promoter Michael Chugg won
the award for International Promoter of the Year.

He will tour Coldplay and Taylor Swift this
year.

FIND STREAKY BACON

The producers of the planned war film Beneath Hill 60,
about the Australian miners who dug tunnels under the western front
during World War I, want to identify the only Aboriginal man among
their number.

"One of the major characters, Billy (Streaky) Bacon, is an
Aboriginal tunneller and it would be invaluable to our writer to
know the true story," said producer Bill Leimbach.

Brendan Cowell, Hugo Weaving, Gyton Grantley and John
Hannah are due to play miners who fought what the film-makers
call "a silent war" beneath the trenches in Europe. The film is to
be directed by actor-turned-film-maker Jeremy Sims.

Anyone who thinks they know the Aboriginal miner can go to
www.beneathhill60.com.au.